don't really agree with that comic, but its cool someone, y'know, actually acknowledges Arthur like that...

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~*We don't have to be defined by the things we did or didn't do in our past. Some people allow themselves to be controlled by regret. Maybe it's a regret, maybe it's not. It's merely something that happened. Get over it.*~

Well, considering I spent a great deal amount of time at PBS (as an intern, mostly), I can say that... yeah, this is pretty much true-to-life.

This is pretty much the reason why we stopped having pledge drives after 2005: there was a group of radical homeschool parents (yeah, I was homeschooled when I was in high school), most of whom were Conservative Republicans, who went around spreading their anti-PBS propaganda, actually saying, "Just Say No to Clifford (the Big Red Dog)". They were calling for a boycott for PBS Kids shows, such as CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, ARTHUR, SESAME STREET, BARNEY & FRIENDS, MAYA & MIGUEL, among others, on the grounds that they were spreading the gay agenda, "brainwashing" our kids into believe that being gay and accepting gay people is okay, which, God forbid, we should treat gay people like ordinary people, 'cause, like, y'know, being gay is, like, WORSE that murdering people and such. Needless to say, support did, indeed, DROP, so much so that they raised the minimum pledge amount from $20 to $25 per person, and that didn't even help. Our August 2005 pledge drive, we came in way short of our goal, and as such, they stopped having pledge drives altogether.

So, yeah.

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I stretch like a snake, and I shimmy and shake, and I bounce like a ball, and I say something cute when you give me a squeeze!

I think WPT still does pledge drives - not sure if they did this year as I didn't have cable again until a few months ago.

I'm not going to get in on the gay marriage/marriage equality debate on here, but I do fail in seeing how CLIFFORD promotes the gay crowd, much less any agenda at all. Regardless of anyone's views, their case against Clifford sounds more like desperation to me. Ditto with Sesame Street and most of the others.

I do agree Barney promotes an agenda - the stupid agenda. Our PBS station seems to have dropped it, thankfully.

No clue if it's all based solely on the infamous "Two moms" episode or not, but I'm guessing since ONE show "promoted tolerance towards homosexuals", then they assumed ALL PBS Kids shows were promoting tolerance, and if there's one thing conservatives hate more in this world than homosexuality, it's tolerance towards homosexuals. :p

But SESAME STREET did actually have similar controversy a few years earlier: when word of a new HIV+ Muppet was to be introduced, parents absolutely FLIPPED OUT... 'cause, you know, HIV/AIDS automatically means you're gay? You know, that old stigma? But, the problem is the parents DIDN'T EVEN GET THE ENTIRE FRICKEN STORY! It wasn't the American SESAME STREET that was introducing an HIV+ Muppet to the cast, it was the South African co-production that was introducing a new HIV+ Muppet to their cast, and the Muppet wasn't gay or promoting homosexuality, and didn't even contract HIV through gay sex, she contracted HIV from a blood transfusion when she was an infant, and, well, HIV is an epidemic down in South Africa.

Heck, anybody remember that old PBS promo that had clips of not just PBS shows, but like Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and other clips, all set to "We Are Family"? Even THAT put bees in some parents' boxers. :p

But, I digress, didn't really mean for this thread to start up a debate, just wanted to share the comic.

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I stretch like a snake, and I shimmy and shake, and I bounce like a ball, and I say something cute when you give me a squeeze!

No clue if it's all based solely on the infamous "Two moms" episode or not

Probably.

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but I'm guessing since ONE show "promoted tolerance towards homosexuals", then they assumed ALL PBS Kids shows were promoting tolerance, and if there's one thing conservatives hate more in this world than homosexuality, it's tolerance towards homosexuals. :p

I've not seen the PFB episode in question, so I can't really vouch for how much it really "promotes the gay agenda" - Youtube to the rescue, hopefully.

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But SESAME STREET did actually have similar controversy a few years earlier: when word of a new HIV+ Muppet was to be introduced, parents absolutely FLIPPED OUT... 'cause, you know, HIV/AIDS automatically means you're gay? You know, that old stigma? But, the problem is the parents DIDN'T EVEN GET THE ENTIRE FRICKEN STORY! It wasn't the American SESAME STREET that was introducing an HIV+ Muppet to the cast, it was the South African co-production that was introducing a new HIV+ Muppet to their cast, and the Muppet wasn't gay or promoting homosexuality, and didn't even contract HIV through gay sex, she contracted HIV from a blood transfusion when she was an infant, and, well, HIV is an epidemic down in South Africa.

Yes I recall this. There was also rumors of turning Ernie and Bert gay, then the one about Ernie being killed off via AIDS after his performer (Jim Henson) died, and much regarding David's departure from the program - none of these were true of course, but in the early days of the internet just about any rumor could take off without much certification.

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Heck, anybody remember that old PBS promo that had clips of not just PBS shows, but like Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and other clips, all set to "We Are Family"? Even THAT put bees in some parents' boxers. :p

I don't recall this one. Must have been after my time growing up on PBS fare and inevitably turning to other programming.

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But, I digress, didn't really mean for this thread to start up a debate, just wanted to share the comic.

The funniest thing is that the episode in question scarcely promoted anything in favor of (or against) gay marriage. It presents a lesbian couple for a few minutes, culminating in Buster being surprised that their kids have "a lotta moms." I suppose some people were upset that Buster didn't launch into a tirade and subsequently set fire to their home.

The show merely presents something from a distinct sub-culture within the United States, not unlike it presents various cultural situations in other countries that are arguably more controversial than gay marriage. For instance, children conforming to Muslim Sharia Law, 5-10 poverty-stricken trailer park kids jam-packed into a single crammed bedroom, or stray dogs and other beasts roaming the streets of India.

By the same logic, I suppose PBS must also promote and endorse abject poverty and allowing wild animals to roam free in the streets among children.

This is just another case of an extreme minority causing a ruckus and ruining things. In reality, most conservatives could care less about something like this.

a lotta moms was weird, but some people think that it wasn't even showing a lesbian couple, like, maybe they were a mom, whose husband divorced and remarried, then divorced HER, and made her have partial custody of his kids from the previous marriage. (a little crazy, but, hey, there have been weirder situations.) it seems to me that if this was the case, the production company made it seem more likely that they were lesbians, so as to get a reaction.

how the heck was clifford promoting gays? it was promoting red dogs.

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~*We don't have to be defined by the things we did or didn't do in our past. Some people allow themselves to be controlled by regret. Maybe it's a regret, maybe it's not. It's merely something that happened. Get over it.*~

I never understood the Clifford controversy. I've heard it in a couple of places, but I've never really heard why some find it controversial.

The PFB episode in question really just has those two minutes regarding the family's two moms. It's not like the entire episode focuses on it, which is why I never understood why people made such a fuss out of it.